E 458 
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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, THE SURE AND ONLY STAY OF 

THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT IN OUR 

NATIONAL TROUBLES. 



A SERMON 



PREACHED IN THE 

TENTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, SEPT. 14, 

AXD IN THE 

WEST SPRUCE STREET CHURCH, SEPTEMBER 2S, 1S62. 



HENRY A. BOARDMAX, D. D. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEX. 
18G2. 



wr 
.a. 

S7X 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



010 639 568 8 



E 458 
.2 

.B72 
Copy 1 



THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, THE SURE AND ONLY STAY OF 

THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT IN OUR 

NATIONAL TROUBLES. 



A SERMON 



PREACHED IN THE 

TENTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, SEPT. 14, 

AND IN THE 

WEST SPRUCE STREET CHURCH, SEPTEMBER 28, 1S62. 



HENRY A. BOARDMAX, D. D. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEX. 

18G2. 



■Z 



^ Philadelphia, September 30, 1862. 

^ Rev. Henry A. Boaedman, D. D. 

Dear Sir— Yonr Sermon on the Heign nf God, as connected with our present troubles, 
deserves a much larger publicity than can result from twice preaching. It ought to be 
read and considered, as well by those who love God and their country, as by those who 
are too apt to forget him. It would setm to be a vain hope to escape from our entangle- 
ments, and to exhibit "the uprising of a great nation," until we sincerely and humbly 
adopt the motto, " In God is our trust." 
TVe therefore rec^uest that the manuscript may be placed at our disposal for publication. 

JAMES POLLOCK, 
JOSEPH PATTERSON, 
GEORGE II. STUART, 
S. A. MERCER, 
ARCHIBALD McINTYRE, 
ARTHUR G. COFFIN, 
SAMUEL ASBURY, 
HENRY D. SHERRERD, 
JAMES WARRIN, 
W. DWIQHT BELL. 



Philadelphia, October 2, 1862. 
GmtUmen — It would be superfluous to speak to you of the tone of despondency which 
has for the last six months pervaded the public mind respecting the war. The sermon 
which you desire to publish had its origin in the prevalence of this feeling— then, I may 
add, at its height. Our army had just been expelled from Central Virginia; the national 
forces in the South-west were resigning their dearly bought conquests; and the Northern 
States were threatened with invasion. On every side we encountered inquietude, distrust, 
and vague presentiments of fresh calamity. Every one felt the need of some sure resting- 
place. I felt it myself; and wrote the sermon for my own relief, and the comfort of my 
people. I had no thought of its going further. Your kind note assures me that it has 
been helpful to you, and may be to others. I shall rejoice if it prove so. For notwith- 
standing the recent victories with which God has been pleased to crown our arms, the 
cloud is not lifted from the public mind. The future lowers very darkly upon us; and 
there is neither peace nor hope for us except in the reflection, ''TnE Lord reiqneth." 
I cheerfully place the manuscript in your hands. 

Respectfully and faithfully yours, 

HENRY A. BOARDMAN. 
To the Hon. James Pollock, 

Joseph Patterson, Esq., and others. 



SEEM ON. 



Psalm xcvii. 1, 2. 

THE LORD EEIGXETH: LET THE EARTH REJOICE," LET THE MULTITUDE OF 
ISLES BE GLAD THEREOF, CLOUDS AND DARKNESS ARE ROUND ABOUT 
him: RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT ARE THE HABITATION OF HIS THRONE. 

We have here one of the favourite themes of the 
sacred writers, the universal dominion of God. It 
is a subject they present to us in every form, 
whether of simple didactic statement, history, song, 
or prophecy. This need not surprise us. A 
devout spirit must dwell with habitual and grateful 
joy upon the reign of God. It belongs to the 
earliest aspirations of the new-born soul on earth ; 
and it inspires the loftiest anthems of saints and 
angels in glory. If I add, that it is of all others 
the subject which must come home to our bosoms 
just now, you will every one respond to the senti- 
ment. For there is nothing of which we need more 
to be reminded in our present circumstances, than 
that "THE Lord reigneth;" that even when "clouds 



b THE LORD REIGNETH. 

and darkness are round about him," and his dispen- 
sations are veiled in mystery, "righteousness and 
judgment are the habitation of his throne;" and 
that his rei^n is, therefore, a just cause of joy to all 
the earth. 

One of the expressions used by the Psalmist on 
this latter point requires a word of explanation; — 
"Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be 
clad thereof." The words "isles" and "islands," 
which are of such frequent occurrence in the Old 
Testament, do not ordinarily denote a tract of land 
surrounded by water. That is sometimes the mean- 
ing, but the Hebrews used the term so translated, to 
denote sea-coasts in general — any shores washed by 
the sea; and so, maritime countries. In several 
passages, the special reference is to the coasts bor- 
dering on the Mediterranean; while in others, it is 
to be taken without this limitation, and as equiva- 
lent to " the Gentile nations." Of this we have an 
early example in Gen. x. 5 : " By these were the 
isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every 
one after his tongue, after their families, in their 
nations." And in the same way we are to under- 
stand the text: "Let the multitude of isles — let the 
Gentiles of all lands — be glad thereof; let all kin- 
dreds and nations rejoice that the liOrd rcigncth." 

"'J'liK Lord reignetii." >Ve luivo tliis truth 



THE LORD REIGNETH. / 

often repeated. " The Lord is King for ever and 
ever." " For the Lord most high is terrible ; he is 
a great King over all the earth." " Who is like 
unto thee, O Lord, among the gods^ AVho is like 
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing 
wonders'?" "Our God is in the heavens: he hath 
done whatsoever he hath pleased." "Thine, O 
Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, 
and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in 
the heaven and in the earth is thine: thine is the 
kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted above all." 
Testimonies like these — and the Bible is full of 
them — can import nothing less than that the Deity 
exercises an absolute control over all creatures and 
all events. He governs the worlds, material and 
immaterial. He governs brutes, and he governs 
men. He governs individuals, and he governs 
nations. He governs angels, and he governs devils. 
His supremacy extends to every mote that floats in 
the sunbeam, to every tiny globule that sparkles in 
the foam of the sea, to every transient emotion that 
flits across the breast of man or angel. Nothing 
exists but by his ordination. Nothing happens but 
as he bids or permits it to happen. The same hand 
which upholds the universe and keeps the stars in 
their courses, guides the falling sparrow. 

It must be so. An infinite and perfect God must 



8 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

y exercise an absolute and universal dominion. He 
must be present in every part of the universe. He 
must know everything that occurs. He must direct 
and control all things. Otherwise his own plans 
would be liable to interruption, and his happiness 
would be marred. That he has a plan, is a neces- 
sary sequence from his perfection. His wisdom 
will select the means for carrying it into effect ; and 
his goodness and righteousness make it certain that 
these means, and the plan itself, will be adapted to 
promote alike his own glory and the welfare of his 
creatures. 

His sovereignty, I have said, extends as well to 
nations as to individuals. The one includes the 
other. If he governs individuals he must govern 
nations, and vice versa. What is the Old Testament 
history but an illustration of this idea^ Going back 
to the flood, the earth is divided among the sons of 
Noah. The nations springing from their loins are 
assigned each its proper territory. After four cen- 
turies, Abraham is called, and then, for two thou- 
sand years, a single nation fills tlic field of vision: 
all other nations are treated as if of no moment, 
except in tli(>ir relations to the chosen people. 
Now they are made the tributaries of the Hebrews; 
and anon tliey are used to scourge them. To-day 
they fight tlicm; to-niorrow they hew tlieir wood 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 9 

and draw their water. But when their work is 
done relatively to the Jew, they disappear from the 
scene, and are heard of no more. 

Even the great empires of the globe pay the same 
homage, involuntary though it be, to the Divine 
supremacy. It is a reflection of pregnant import, 
that the same irresistible _wilL. which ruled over 
Edom and Moab, controlled Babylon, and Media, 
and Greece, and Rome. As if to shut the mouths 
of those who might be disposed to exclude his pro- 
vidence from the wonderful events which marked 
the history of the four great monarchies, their 
annals are written in advance by the pen of pro- 
phecy. God tells the world what he was goinff to 
do with these mighty empires; that when the pre- 
dictions were fulfilled, they might own his hand 
in the consummation, and confess that " the Lord 
God omnipotent reignetii." 

The argument from this source is irrefragable. 
The Book of Daniel, read in connection with authen- 
tic uninspired history, supplies a complete moral 
demonstration of God's control over nations and of 
his agency in all, even their minutest aflairs. For it 
must be apparent, that if his prescribed plan had 
happened to omit the career of a single individual 
belonging, if you will, to the Medo-Persian empire, 
or the most trivial measure in its public policy, tliat 



^ 



10 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

oversight might have changed the whole current of 
its affairs, and so caused the prophecy to miscarry. 
When it is considered what the rise, progress, and 
overthrow of a nation involves — ^vhat an endless 
variety and complexity of interests, plans, and pas- 
sions; what diversified pursuits, institutions, and 
organizations, social, commercial, literary, political, 
and religious; amplified by its relations with other 
nations, and, still more, by having each individual of 
the millions who compose its successive generations 
left to his own free will, — when we take this view 
of a nation, we cannot but stand amazed at the 
prescience wdiich can forecast its destiny, and the 
infinite intelligence and power which can shape its 
fortunes precisely to the appointed end. This is what 

^ we know the Deity has done in respect to the nations 
embraced in the fulfilled propliecics; and we are 
equally sure that he docs it in respect to every 
nation. The supervision he exercises over its affairs 
is not remote and general; but practical and con- 
stant. It pervades the entire structure. It touches 
its every interest. It guides its every iiu)V(>nu>iit. lie 
holds it as in tlie hollow of liis liand; and without 
liini it cannot lift a finger; it cannot ev(>n brcnillie. 

/ 'J'liis — nothing less tlian this — is meant by the 
Scripture doctrine tliat "the I.ord reigneth." And 
if tliis Ije its meaning, we are jtrcpared to liear that 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 11 

"clouds and darkness are round about him;" in other 
words, that many of his dispensations are veiled in 
mystery. No one who accepts the doctrine with an 
intelligent faith, could expect anything else. For 
consider, 

The infinitude of God. " Canst thou by searching 
find out God ?" The loftiest angel could not do this. 
The loftiest angel is but a child in knowledge here. 
What can we do, then, in comprehending the ways 
of the infinite One'? 

Consider, again, the extent and grandeur of his 
domain. "We are no more to sever our globe from 
the rest of the universe, than we are to isolate one 
province or nation of the globe from the residue. 
His government is one. It comprises the various 
kingdoms of the earth, and it comprises, no less, the 
remainder of our planetary system, and all the stars 
and systems which adorn the skies, and every sphere 
that revolves in those distant fields of space which 
no telescope has ever brought within the reach of 
mortal vision. It is one realm, under " one blessed 
and only Potentate." He created it for a common 
end. He governs it according to a sinde plan which 
comprehends all its mighty interests, and makes its 
every grand and every trivial agency subservient to 
his ultimate design. 

To say this is to affirm that he must at times be 



12 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

robed "in clonds and darkness." It were arroffating 
a divine prerogative to suppose ourselves capable of 
grasping all the movements of a government like 
this. The event which confounds your wisdom and 
tries your faith, has relations you do not understand. 
You do not see all its bearings even upon our own 
national welfare. How can you trace its effects upon 
the other portions of the human family — upon Europe 
— upon China — upon Africa'? And if you could 
unravel this net-work, what could you know of its 
possible results in some of these distant orbs which 
pay allegiance to the same august Sovereign, and 
constitute a part of the same empire, with ourselves? 
This argument is enforced by the reflection, that 
the present is confessedly a p-eliminary dispensation. 
"Lo, these are imrts of his ways." Everything we 
see, is in order to something we do not see. The 
present is for the future. Inscrutable providences 
arc like Scripture prophecies — their interpretation is 
to come. We arc under a Teacher too wise to give 
us the problem and the key together. When his 
plan is completed, we shall see and confess its won- 
drous symmetry and beauty. 

/ That wc sliould encounter these mysteries is far- 
ther to bo contein[)lale(l as a iwccssan/ part of am' 
moral fnii/iiiit/. \\c are sufficiently prone to indulge 
pride, and self-will, and impatience, and selfishness. 



THE LOED REIGNETH. 13 

It would not abate these evil tendencies if every- 
thing in God's providence were made plain to us. 
We need dark and inexplicable events, to remind us 
that we are are in the presence of a Power greater 
than ourselves : to mortify our self-consequence : to 
foster in our breasts patience and submission: and 
to nourish a filial trust in God's wisdom and right- 
eousness, even when "his way is in the sea, and his 
path in the great waters." 

I have treated the text chiefly in its bearing upon 
nations; — God's dominion over nations: for it is this 
question which most deeply concerns us at this 
juncture. It has been shown that his government 
extends to nations; and that in his dispensations 
towards them we must expect inscrutable providences. 
A cursory review of any period of the world's his- 
tory would supply illustrations of these topics. He 
has not governed the nations as we would have 
governed them. There are events in the history 
even of the chosen people which amaze us — which 
would certainly have amazed us had we been living 
when they occurred. Of these none is more remark- 
able than the earlt/ disruption of the nation. After 
the unexampled care and culture he had bestowed 
upon them — the wonders which marked their exodus 
from Egypt, their miraculous support in the desert, 
their victories over the heathen, and their successM 



u 



14 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

occupation of Canaan; after the temple was built, 
and their complex and imposing system of worship 
established, and the new epoch in their sublime 
career inaugurated by the brilliant reigns of David 
and Solomon — the natural presumption must have 
been that the nation would at least be preserved in 
its integrity for centuries. Instead of this, Solomon 
is scarcely laid in his tomb, before a rebellion takes 
place in which ten tribes combine to throw off the 
theocratic yoke, and thenceforward the kingdom is 
divided. Even to this day the breach has never been 
healed; and History, vigilant as it is, has failed to 
preserve any record of ten-twelfths of the ancient 
seed of Abraham. Is it possible to recall this pas- 
sage without feeling that " clouds and darkness are 
round about him" ? 

So, at a later period, with the seventy years cap- 
tivity. No one will impugn the righteousness of 
this visitation, for tlicir cup of iniquity was full. 
Still, when we remember his previous dealings with 
them, his promises, and especially the promise of a 
Messiah, and the overfloAving wickedness of the 
nations at war witli them, it cannot but appear mys- 
terious tliat lie sliould suffer their land to be laid 
desolate, the temple itself destroyed, and the people 
dragged off into a distant and cruel bonda«j:e. Had 



THE LOED KEIGNETH. 15 

we lived then, our feeling would have been, "Clouds 
and darkness are round about him." 

AVith this feeling, indeed, we must read no incon- 
siderable part of modern as well as ancient histoiy. 
The course of events has not been in the line which 
our wisdom and our sense of right would have pre- 
scribed. God's ways are not as our ways, nor his 
thoughts as our thoughts; or. the earth Avould pre- 
sent a veiy different spectacle from that whicli 
meets our eyes to-day. While we feel thus in 
reference to various other countries, our own trou- 
bles clothe the sentiment with a peculiar solemnity. 
This cruel war confounds us. Its first gun sent a 
shudder through the land. We could scarcely trust 
our senses that a civil war was upon us. Com- 
pelled to admit this, our next thought was that it 
must be very short; that with our vast resources we 
could bring it to a speedy end. But it lasts far 
beyond our calculations. We are bafiled, and often 
defeated, by a power every way inferior to us. 
Twenty millions of men are held at bay for eighteen 
months by six millions. We talk of victories; and 
our own capitals tremble at the tramp of invading 
armies. Wise men stand amazed at the current of 
events. Every one asks of his neighbour, What 
does it mean"? Devout Christians are saying, "We 
had not thought he would deal thus with us." 



16 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

It is something to know — it is a great deal to 
know — that His hand is in it aU. "The Lord 

^REtGNETH." This is really our only sure source of 
consolation. We have looked to earth, and it has 
failed us. We have turned to our rulers; we have 
thought with complacency of our skilful captains, of 
our well-appointed armies, and our invincible fleets. 
We have felt that with such defences the govern- 
ment must be safe, and this rebellion be promptly 
suppressed. These confidences have been shattered. 
Fearful and anxious, we cast around for some other 
and better support. And here we find it: "The 

^ Lord reigneth." 

"If he does "reign" — reign with that absolute 
and ubiquitous supremacy which has been ascribed 
to him — then this war has not come without him. 
He is in all our triumphs, and not less in all our 
reverses. The very causes which have brought us 
into our present condition; the alleged official 
incompetency and mismanagement, tlie ignorance, 
the jealousies, the grievous mistakes, the possible 
disloyalty — all are within his domain. His " reign" 
comprehends them all; for "none can stay his hand, 
or say unto him, What docst thour' Had it 
seemed good to him, this unnatural war would have 
1j('(mi brought to an ciid within two or three months. 
'J'liat it is still i)rolonged, shows that whih^ the 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 17 

parties to it are aiming at their ends, God has his 
purposes to accomplish also. And we may be sure 
that until they are accomplished, the work of sor- 
row and death will go on. 

If there be anything sad in this reflection, there 
is more of comfort. It is in fact, as already hinted, 
the only real comfort that is left us; the conviction 
that we are in his hands, and that he will order all 
things as he deems best. There is no agency, great 
or small, concerned in this war, which he does not 
control. He is in the council-chambers of our 
rulers. He is with our hosts in the field. He is 
with the armies that are assailing our cherished 
Union, and threatening to devastate our towns and 
cities. All are in as entire subjection to him, as are 
the forces which carry forward the tranquil opera- 
tions of the natural world. Except with his consent 
or by his permission, no plan can prosper, and no 
blow take effect, whether for or against us. 

It were, indeed, a mockery of God to expect him 
to work a miracle for our help; we can only count 
upon his aid when we are doing all we can our- 
selves. But the efficiency is his; and the results 
are his. He can save by many or by few. Under 
his shield three hundred Hebrews shall vanquish 
the tens of thousands of Midian. And this feat 
may be renewed on other fields; while without his 
2 



18 THE LORD REIGNETH 

favour, a colossal army may flee before an imagi- 
nary danger. He who says to the turbulent sea, 
" Thus far shalt thou come, and no further," can say 
the same to an invading foe; and the submission 
shall be as prompt in the one case as in the other. 
If I iterate this thought, it is because there is no 
truth of so much moment to us at this crisis. 

The review we have taken, shows that God is 
dealing with us as he has dealt with other nations; 
that we ought to expect events which would seem 
dark and inexplicable; and that such events bring 
their lessons with them — lessons which it cannot be 
safe to neglect. 

The most serious aspect of these late reverses 
is that which links them with God's sovereignty. 
Unless we have failed entirely in our exposition of 
the text, these trials betoken another controversy to 
which we are a party, in comparison with which the 
conflict that engrosses us is of secondary importance ; 
or rather, which imparts to this conflict all its signi- 
ficance. I refer of course to God's controversy with 
us. If he were reconciled to us, this war would not 
last long. " When a man's ways please tlic Lord, 
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with 
him." The sentiment must be as applicable to 
nations as to individuals. AVliat could any earthly 
power do against a people who had God on their 



THE LOKD REIGNETH. 19 

side] What did they effect against IsraeU "When 
they went from one nation to another, from one 
kingdom to another people, he snffered no man to 
do tlicm wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their 
sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my 
prophets no harm." Psahn cv. 13 — 15. It must be 
because there is sin lying at our door; because we 
have not humbled ourselves aright under his rebukes; 
and we are not brought back in love and loyalty to 
Him, that his hand is still stretched out against us. 
Absolute as is his supremacy, and inscrutable as he 
must be to our reason in many of his dispensations, 
it is nevertheless an established principle of his 
administration, that he will bless any nation which 
faithfully honours him, and return to the nation 
which penitently returns to him. "The Lord is 
with you while ye are with him ; and if ye seek him, 
he will be found of you: but if ye forsake him, he 
will forsake you." If pagan Nineveh found this 
true, no Christian people need scruple to avail them- 
selves of it. The ten tribes would doubtless have 
experienced his clemency, had they sought it. But 
among all their kings, there was not a single good 
one. There was no repentance, and therefore no 
restoration. 

But some one may ask, Why attribute these 
reverses to the Divine displeasure, when they are 



20 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

clearly traceable to human agency] Wh}' not charge 
them to the imbecility, and the ambition, the 
personal feuds_ and political intrigues which have 
brought them upon ust I answer: 1. It is not the 
province of the pulpit to discuss such topics in these 
relations. 2. There is no intention to exonerate any 
one who may have had a criminal agency in causing 
these calamities. Let the tribunals arraign and 
punish them, 3. But if you could point out with 
unerring certainty all who have been concerned in 
precipitating these disastrous events upon the coun- 
try, it would no more exclude a Providence than 
you can exclude a Providence from the lightning 
and the earthquake. God works by agents of all 
kinds; as well by men's vices as by their virtues; as 
well by their ignorance and their ambition, as by 
their patriotism and their science. And we cannot 
suppose that he would liave permitted such instru- 
ments to produce such effects, unless it were a part 
of his plan to use them in reproving the sins of this 
nation. 

If this be a proper view of the subject, our duty is 
plain. AVe nuist '' scdrch and in) our imj/s, laid turn 
aga'ui to the Lord.'' The loss of liis favour will 
explain everything tliat has happtnunl. And the 
grand aim slioiild be to learn liow wo liave lost liis 
favour, and by what means we can regain it. This 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 21 

is too large a theme to be discussed within the com- 
pass of a few pages. But there is one feature of our 
government too closely connected with this question, 
and too conspicuous, to be passed by in silence. I 
refer, as you will readily suppose — for the topic is a 
familiar one — to the absence of any adequate recog- 
nition of the sovereignty of God, and the religion of ^"^ 
which he is the author and object, in our Constitu- 
tion, and in the practical administration of our poli- 
tical system. It may be conceded that the spirit of 
Christianity is to a certain extent incorporated with 
our institutions. The legal recognition of the Sab- 
bath, the oath on the Holy Evangelists, and the 
appointment of Chaplains, are, so fiir, an acknow- 
ledgment of the Christian religion. But our national 
charter pays no homage to the Deity. His name 
does not once occur in the Constitution of the 
United States. And, as if to confound the charity 
which would refer this omission to some accidental 
agency, the same atheism is repeated and perpetuated 
in another form no less excusable. The^coinage of \/^ 
mon^e^is one of the inalienable prerogatives of poli- 
tical sovereignty. The solemnity attached to tlie 
function has been recognised by most nations, 
ancient and modern, Jewish and Christian, Moham- 
medan and Pagan. For a sort of universal instinct 
has consecrated the coinage of the world to religion. 



22 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

You have but to look at the money of any people, to 
know at what altars they worshipped. But the 
coinage of the United States is ivithout a God. The 
startling remark has been made by an able numis- 
matist amongst us, that if our nation should perish, 
and nothing be left of its history but our coins, the 
future antiquarian could never learn from them 
whether we were a Christian or a heathen people. 
The presumption, from the emblems impressed upon 
our money, (which are heathen, if they have any 
theological character,) would be in favour of our 
paganism. This is not a trivial matter. For while 
the Dei gratia of a currency may consort with regal 
and popular infidelity, the entire absence of all such 
emblems and legends from the coins of a nominally 
Christian nation, must be taken to indicate as much 
a want of reverence for the Deity, as a want of 
respect for the common religious sentiment of man- 
kind. Is it too much to hope that this opprobrium 
may be wiped away 1 If we have never been taught 
the lesson before, we are admonished of it now, that 
^'TiiE Lord reignetii." lias not the time come to 
make our formal national confession of this funda- 
mental truth — to impress it upon our coinage I — to 
insert it (pcradventur(3 it may not be too late) as tlie 
Key-stone of our riven and tottering Constitution'? 
If tlie country is not ready for these two simpl(> but 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 23 

significant steps in the direction of Christianity, we 
have been chastened to very little pui-pose. 

But let it not be imas^ined that there is nothino- 
else to be reformed. It must be recorded to our 
shame, that the Christians of our country have been 
criminally remiss in respect to their social and poli- 
tical obligations: and to this neglect it is largely 
owing that God's authority has been so much con- 
temned amongst us. "There has been no time 
(observes an admirable writer) since our origin as a 
nation, when the united voices and efforts of the 
Christians of this country could not have accom- 
plished any object they desired, provided the measure 
was conceived in the true spirit of Christian wisdom 
and toleration. There has been no time when it 
was not the duty of the Christians of this country 
to consider, under the full light of that Christianity 
which beamed upon them undimmed from the word 
of God, what policy and what measures were best 
fitted to improve and preserve our political institu- 
tions, and what course of government or legislation 
would most improve the moral, religious, and social 
well-being of the whole people."* These just obser- 
vations have lost none of their force by reason of 
the lapse of ten years since they were penned. They 
had no reference to a "Christian party in politics;"' 

* "Politics for American Christians." Stephen Colwell. 



24 THE LORD REIGNETH. 

much less to that phantom of " Church and State" 
which has inspired the declamation of so many place- 
hunters. They were levelled at an evil of gigantic 
proportions, viz. the unfaithfulness of the Christians 
of our country to their pohtical duties. Professing 
to regard Christianity as the paramount concern of 
man, and to recognise the Divine protection as the 
only security for nations, they have, to a great extent, 
ahjured politics and left the management of our 
affairs to whoever might succeed in seizing the reins. 
As a general thing, they have shunned nomination to 
office, and taken no pains to insure the election of 
suitable men. They have not brought their influ- 
ence to bear, in any suitable degree, upon the course 
of legislation, so as to guard the interests of morality, 
and foster the healthy, conservative element in our 
institutions. They have too often sacrificed cither 
to personal ease or to party, what was due to their 
country; and by their silence connived at that fright- 
ful corruption which has of late years s[)rcad like a 
leprosy through the whole domain of our politics. 
\AVhat wonder that the nation should come to deny 
tliat "THE Loud keigns," when his own people fail 
to acknowledjre it? What marvel that His riii'hts 
should be trampled in tlie dust, wlien those to whose 
watch He has confided them betray the sacred trust"? 
Tf this is stroiii^ lan":uaoe, the occasion will 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 25 

justify it. This desolating war compels every 
thoughtful man to inquire into the causes which 
have produced it. And one of the earliest conclu- 
sions forced upon us, is, that our government is 
racked and shattered, because the Christian men of 
the land, and those who are in sympathy with them, 
have put forth no proper exertions to take care of 
it: because they have been too much engrossed with 
other pursuits, to keep the nation, as by a united 
and persistent effort they might have kept it, from 
that fatal deterioration which follows the general 
denial or disparagement of God 's sovere ignty, as- 
certainly as darkness follows the withdrawal of the 
sun. It is not meant by this that there is no real 
religion amongst us; nor that the churches of our 
country have entirely failed of their mission. Far 
from it ; the gospel has achieved many of its noblest 
triumphs here. But Avhether from a mistaken view 
of its legitimate sphere, or from other causes, the 
Christianity of the land has stood so much aloof 
from our politics, that although, in a sort, a nation 
of Christians, we are, in a very qualified sense only, 
a Christian nation. However this war may termi- 
nate, we have a dismal future before us, unless the 
religion of the country means hereafter to * make 
itself felt in our public affairs as it has not been 
durini? the last half centurv. So little, in fart, has 



26 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 



the nation been imbued with a proper religious 
sentiment-with the feeling, "the Lord reigxeth" 
—that our most characteristic sin is found in the 
general prevalence of a spirit which is the very 
opposite of this, the spirit of self-sufficiency and 
rude boasting. Xo one will ask for argument on 
this point. We have gloried in ourselves-in our 
liberty, our intelligence, our enterprise, our prowess, 
our constitution, our Union— until all Europe has 
jeered at our vanity and anathematized our arro- 
gance. No people except the Hebrews ever had 
so much to keep them mindful of the presence and 
the goodness of God: "for what nation is there so 
great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord 
our God has been in all things that we have called 
upon him fori" But the munificence of his bounty 
has only made us more supercilious; and while 
accepting and using his blessings, we have offered 
incense to our own superior virtue as the procuring 
cause of them. If there be any so blind that they 
have not seen this sin before, they may read it now 
in its punishment. God has smitten us in our most 
vulnerable part. Our idols arc in tlie dust. Our 
glorying is turned to shame. MY^ arc beginning to 
learn 'tliat "the J.ohd keigns;" and that he is "a 
jealous C;od, wlio will not give his glory to another." 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 27 

If we are learning this, we have struck tlie only 
trail which can lead us out of this labyrinth of woes, 
and conduct us to an honourable peace. There 
must be no abatement in the measures adopted for 
the public defence, but rather increased energy and 
augmented preparations. But we must return to 
God. This is the vital thing. We must restore to 
him the sceptre we have profanely attempted to 
wrest from his hand. AV^e must acknowledge his 
sovereignty, and lay our honours at his feet. We 
must submit in humility to his rebukes, and peni- 
tently plead with him to withdraw his rod. At 
whatever cost, through whatever depths of self- 
abasement, we must regain his ftivour. And we 
shall do it, if we seek him as we ought. " He hath 
smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days 
will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us 
up, and we shall live in his sight." This is the 
acknowledged design of the afflictions witli which 
he visits his people as individuals, to humble and 
purify them, and bring them nearer to himself. 
And we are warranted in putting a similar inter- 
pretation upon the calamities with which he scourges 
Christian nations. W^henever these afflictions have 
produced their proper effect upon us, we cannot 
doubt that our Heavenly Father will lay aside the 



28 THE LORD REIGXETH. 

rod witli which, in such righteous severity, he is 
smiting us. 

There are two or three obvious considerations 
which lend countenance to this belief. One is 
derived from our past history. "We need not go 
into details. As was just now observed, the annals 
of the Hebrews excepted, there is no nation whose 
origin and progress have been marked by so many 
wonderful interpositions of God's hand. The colo- 
nizing of this continent, the Revolution, the organi- 
zation of the government, and the unexampled 
growth and prosperity of the nation, have too often 
been dwelt upon in this relation, to make it neces- 
sary to recite particular events here. It is not 
reasonable to presume that He who has built up so 
costly and beneficent a fabric, will suffer it to be 
destroyed before it has completed its first century. 

For it is not simply a political structure. Even 
in this view we cannot be at fault in supposing that 
it has exerted a most benign and powerful influence 
upon tlie cause of civil liberty throughout the earth. 
But God has a C/mrch m tliis land. In anotlicr 
connection I Iiave spoken of its omissions and 
failures. But imperfect and unfaithful as it has 
been, it comprises some millions of individuals, who 
either profess tlie name of Christ, or constantly 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 29 

celebrate his worship. This Church has not wholly 
neglected its work. It has done much to provide 
the ordinances of religion for our own expanding 
population. It has given the gospel to many pagan 
lands. It has enjoyed numerous unequivocal tokens 
of the Divine favour. Can we believe that He who 
died to ransom his Church, and who is "Head over 
all things to the Church," will abandon this Church 1 
Or can we doubt that he will show himself "fiivour- 
able to our land" for the Church's sake'? 

I merely suggest these thoughts. They may 
prove nothing. But they forbid us to despair of 
our country. They reprove our unbelief, and bid us 
" trust in the Lord God of our fathers," even thouerh 
we cannot pierce the clouds and darkness which are 
round about him. These clouds will pass away. 
Our beloved country will yet come forth from this 
baptism of blood, purified as gold that is tried in 
the fire; and our Father's flice will again smile 
upon us, a wiser, meeker, and better people. 

But whether these grateful anticipations are to 
be realized or not, let us ''rejoice'' that "the Lord 
REIGNETH." Amidst the tumult and alarm, tlic sor- 
row and suffering, which surround us, tliis one 
thought comes to the licart, like tlic dove witli its 



30 



THE LORD REIGXETH. 



olive-branch across the surging waters. He who 
controlled those angry waves and guarded the ark, 
is still on the throne. 

" He sat serene upon the floods, 
Their fury to restrain; 
And He, as Sovereign, Lord, and King, 
For evermore shall reign." 

Here the Christian will find rest: his Father 
reigns. AVe may trust our country in his hands. 
He loves all that is good in it far more than we do. 
He is more the Friend of human freedom and hap- 
piness than we are. He knows just what this 
nation requires in order to prepare it for its future 
mission. And he will suffer nothing to happen to 
it which is not adapted to work out his own pur- 
poses, and contribute to the ultimate and universal 
triumph of his Church, the grand and absorbing 
interest of earth— for which alone the earth is 
preserved. 

I know it is easier to inculcate this trust than to 
exercise it. Standing where we do, sense and faith 
are in conflict. We would commit our country to 
God's keeping. AVe would rejoice that lie reigns. 
But it costs a struggle. The feeling is, " Lord, I 
believe: lielp thou mine unbelief" But this is our 



THE LORD REIGNETH. 31 

only resource. The issue is with him. His will 
must and will prevail. "The floods lift up their 
voice, the floods lift up their waves ; but the Lord 
on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, 
yea, than the mighty waves of the sea." xVnd if 
we cannot consent to his sovereignty, and trust him 
with our country's destiny, there is nothing left to 
us but the gloom of unbelief, and a prolonged har- 
vest of discontent, and terror, and bitter tears. But 
we can trust him. We will trust him. We know 
that he will not forsake us. With all the tribes of 
earth we will exult in his dominion. "The Lord 

REIGNETH: LET THE EARTH REJOICE; LET THE MULTI- 
TUDE OF ISLES BE GLAD THEREOF. ClOUDS AND DARK- 
NESS ARE ROUND ABOUT HIM: RIGHTEOUSNESS AND 
JUDGMENT ARE THE HABITATION OF HIS THRONE." 



/ 



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